Day Four: Saturday 26 November 2016

The entire team had a break from construction, painting and feeding as we travelled to Taal Lake, an active volcano, and climbed an extremely steep mountain in order to see one of the most sensational views some of us have ever witnessed.

At the crack of dawn, 5 am, the whole team was up nibbling on the classic breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples, all eager for the near 4-hour bus journey. Our first stop was to pick up the Journey kids. The majority of us slept on the bus trip, but those who were awake, got to see the City of Manila gradually change into a lush green landscape full of busy workers and relaxed animals.

We hopped out the bus, and into jeepies, Filipino public transport, to travel a steep winding road descending a mountain. A few minutes in them, and we were ready for a boat ride across the misty Taal Lake to an island where we would make our epic climb. As we ascended, we had the opportunity to gaze over and appreciate the luscious green landscape surrounding us, while dealing with the continuous downpour of rain, drenching us to the core. Our gradual descent of the volcano left some members extremely muddy and embarrassed, as the endless rain had made everything extremely muddy and hard to climb down.  On arrival to the base, most of the team members dipped into the hot geothermal springs and enjoyed themselves, relaxing their sore muscles after such a challenging three-hour climb.

We were then faced with the awesome challenge of lunch, which was a mix of musical serenades, pigs face, deep fried dried fish, pig brains, and in Yami’s case, an entire red chilli which ultimately made him cry.

It was an awesome day, going from lush green landscapes, to incredibly long bus rides filled with old cliché action movies, (we still don’t know how San Andréas ends, no spoilers please). It was definitely a memorable day.

Stay real Perth,

Reho OUT.

Day Three: Friday 25 November 2016

This morning brought refreshing rain as blue team headed out to construction, red to a feeding and yellow to the Journey Centre for painting.  On the construction site blue team smashed out the hard work in the first three hours leaving the red team with nothing to do after lunch. Drenched in rain, sweat and cement the team mixed, lifted and poured cement for Marilou (chef extraordinaire) and Dong’s (foreman in charge of building operations) house.  Although it was a struggle to lift the cement to the roof, the view was definitely rewarding. Under the same rain, the red team struggled with the wet while feeding the kids in Angona. The yellow team meanwhile stripped and painted the walls for the children at the Journey Centre.

While eating lunch a truckload of bed parts pulled up. The boys all helped to carry each individual, heavy box to the front of the YMC.

After lunch the yellow team headed back to the Journey Centre to continue their work. Annoyed at the barking dogs they sung Christmas carols, quieting them (they are now professional dog whisperers). While at Journey the team also had a chance to play with the kids, building off their contagious enthusiasm.

Blue team had a further chance to utilise their muscle, carrying heavy, awkwardly-shaped bed frames down flights of stairs. Switching up to lighter work the team headed off to a feeding. More laid-back than Tent City, the feeding provided the team with a chance to enjoy spending time with the kids as they gave out balloons as well as pipe-cleaner people and rings. Leaving the feeding site, a little boy ran after the car as they drove away. Heartwarming and touching it was definitely a highlight of the day.

In the evening the whole team headed off to the Journey Centre for the children’s movie night. The kids were full of energy and happiness, clapping throughout victorious moments of the movie Paddington, teaching the team an interactive clapping game and continuously providing smiles and laughter for the team. We then drove back to the YMC (courtesy of Miss Smoker’s driving expertise) for a good sleep ahead of our big day visiting Taal Lake tomorrow.

Day Two: Thursday 24 November, 2016

We woke up to a delicious breakfast cooked by Marilou and the other wonderful YMC ladies. We split up into two groups. One group went to construction where we pulled nails out of wood to be reused, mixed and poured cement, did some bricklaying, we cut grass with hedge trimmers. 

The other group did a feeding which was hectic and sweaty. Walking around the streets, the kids and their families were really friendly despite their tiny houses and hungry bodies. The kids massed around us and scurried away with bowls and cups filled with chicken rice soup. They came back soon after when we began making balloon animals. 

After lunch, one group of eight jammed into a five-seater car packed with lots of donations. Reuben had to sit on top of them with his face pressed to the roof. We went to the Filipino equivalent of Bunnings. We must have been a sight to see as everyone dropped their job and stared at us intently for 40 minutes, whilst taking sneaky photos.

 

When we arrived at Journey For Hope we cleaned the walls and painted them. We danced with the kids as they streamed into the room, flooding it with love and affection. We had a group dance party, including gummy bear and ra tap tap tap and guli guli. We did an improvised drama of the story of Samson. We did a colouring activity with the kids, and enjoyed spending time relaxing with the kids.

Mitchell lost an arm wrestle to Mrs Stewart.  Nelson managed to rip his shorts while doing construction. Thankfully he had undies on! He soldiered on and worked another 45mins shocking the rest of us and the locals alike.

We finished the day debriefing over tasty frappuccinos at Starbucks and sharing the highlights and lowlights of the day.

Reuben – loves his parents and wants to tell them that he’s having a really good time and that they shouldn’t worry about him running into low lying poles designed for smaller Asian people because that wouldn’t happen at all on this trip! He certainly doesn’t have a huge welt on his forehead now J

Mitchell – Tells his sister to not read another chapter without him.

Abel – Hey, I miss you fam

Isaac – Hey Mum, Dad, Grandma, Joy & Wendy! Having a great time over here, it’s great to see everyone again! Hope to see you all soon!

Kate- Hi, thanks for all the messages. I loved it!! I’m having a great time and it’s been great to experience it all over again. Miss ya J Hope Hosannah is saying Aunty Kate hehe

Calvin- Alaina, I’m following the rules. They guide me and shape who I am.

Day One: Wednesday 23 November, 2016

Our journey began at 9:30 PM yesterday at Perth International Airport, T1.  We gathered there with cheery optimistic faces, unknowing of the fact we were in for a sleepless night, and for some of us, a night full of motion sickness and turmoil.  Despite this, however, the team was able to bond through various activities, such as playing card games during the long breaks between flights, playing a ridiculous game called paranoia, and going window-shopping through Duty Free.

It wasn’t long before we arrived, gazing out the airplane windows onto the beautiful

islands of the Philippines below. We walked through the local slum community surrounding the mission centre, and were surprised to find we were greeted by the liveliest and most energetic kids we had ever encountered.

We received a tour of the community and mission centre by a Mexican American missionary named Aaron. The emotional confrontation of the slum community was a huge learning experience for the entire team. Some team members were fortunate enough to empathise through the mutual feeling of overcoming foreign language barriers, and therefore had an enriching encounter with the Filipino children. We were also really encouraged to find that one of the houses we will be helping to build will belong to a faithful missionary family who picked up and moved to an area torn by a cyclone. Another thing that stood out to us on our tour was a little local girl called Stephanie who was warm and friendly towards the whole team, but made a special connection with Sheisla and refused to release her when we returned to the YMC despite promises that Shei would see her tomorrow. She was eventually persuaded and the team is looking forward to seeing her again.

To surmise, the day was an enlightening experience, full of challenges and rewards. Although the team has an optimistic outlook towards the rest of the trip they will be spending the remainder of the evening recovering from the last 38 hours of sleep deprivation.

Stay lit Perth.

Prayer Sheet